July 2009

Those were two tough losses to begin this week’s series against the Marlins. But it was great to get that extra-inning win on Thursday night and head into this weekend still in the thick of the Wild Card race.

I think over the past few years people have changed their perception of the Wild Card. Because so many teams have won the World Series coming out of that avenue, I think people have stopped looking down on those teams that reach the postseason this way.

I think so many Wild Card teams have won the World Series because you’re playing meaningful games right up until the last game of the year. So you may be facing playoff implications the last two weeks, whereas when you win the division with like 10 games to go, you celebrate, coast and rest guys.

Wild Card teams enter the postseason with momentum are clearly playing the best baseball of anybody, because they had to down the stretch. There’s no doubt that can benefit you.

Still your goal is to win your division until you’re mathematically eliminated. So that will continue to be our focus as we try to chase down Philly.

It’s going to different facing the Dodgers on Saturday. When I faced the Red Sox in June, there were some emotional ties to Boston, but I didn’t play with a lot of their current players.

Obviously I played with a lot of the current Dodgers. But it’s tough to say that I know how to pitch them. I’ve probably watched more tape of them over the last 10 days than I normally do when preparing to face an opponent.

You’d think that I’d know how to pitch them better than most teams, but I don’t. When you’re playing with them, you don’t necessarily watch to see how they’re getting pitched.

Still it’s going to be fun to face my former teammates in back-to-back starts. They’re a classy organization and I enjoyed my four years in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers are one of the top two or three organizations in all of baseball, so it’s going to be a challenge.

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